The Queen of England and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at London's Westminster Abbey on Monday.

The service was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who praised the marriage by saying that it is a faithful and creative partnership that lived in the "full light of publicity", Times Online reports.

He also said that the marriage was a symbol for the relationship between the monarch and the people.

The actual date of the anniversary is tomorrow, but the couple celebrated today surrounded by family, politicians and a congregation of 2,000 guests.

The service took place in the same abbey where Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten married on Thursday November 20, 1947.

The wedding was a breath of fresh air and a source of optimism for the country that was struggling to get back on its tracks after World War Two.

The union makes the Queen the first monarch in British history to celebrate the diamond wedding.

The Archbishop addressed the guests today in the abbey saying: “Every marriage is a public event, but some couples have to live more than others in the full light of publicity. We are probably more aware than ever these days of the pressures this brings. But it also means that we can give special thanks for the very public character of the witness and the sign offered to us by this marriage, and what it has meant to nation and Commonwealth over the decades. And part of what it has meant has had to do precisely with the sense of unqualified commitment that has been so characteristic of every aspect of this reign: the faithful and creative personal partnership at the centre of everything else has been a sign of creative faithfulness to a task, a vocation, the creative faithfulness that secures the trust, love and prayerful support of millions."

Among the guests that attended the service were Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Princes William and Harry as well as Gordon Brown, former prime ministers Baroness Thatcher and Sir John Major, some of the Queen’s godchildren and almost 500 past and present members of Royal Household staff.

Prince Charles hosted Sunday night a party for this parents at Clarence House.

Almost 20 close members of the Royal Family celebrated the anniversary of the couple at a black tie dinner.

Prince William gave one of his speeches today at the service and the Academy Award-winning British actress, Judi Dench, read a poem by poet laureate Andrew Motion.

Around 10 couples that married on the same day as the Queen and the Duke were also invited to attend the ceremony.

Tomorrow, the actual day of the ceremony, they will fly to Malta, where the couple spent the happiest days of their lives as an ordinary couple, at the beginning of their marriage.

On their way there the couple will make a stop to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Uganda.